Absolute Regression

Chapter 644: If He Dies, War Will Surely Break Out

So Jeongrak was once again making his rounds through the clinic, flanked on both sides by physicians.

He examined the patients' conditions, prescribed medicine, and reset dislocated bones.

“Thank you, physician!”

The patients' eyes, fixed on him, were filled with reverence. To them, he was nothing short of a god.

At that moment, someone spoke from behind.

“Do you remember me, by any chance?”

So Jeongrak and the physicians turned around to see Geom Mugeuk standing there.

“You treated my older brother, didn't you?”

“I remember.”

“I was worried you wouldn’t recognize me with so many patients around.”

“Someone like you is hard to forget.”

Then Geom Mugeuk chuckled and said,

“Right? It’s not easy to forget such a handsome patient guardian, is it?”

The physicians nearby looked dumbfounded, and both patients and their guardians laughed.

“How’s your brother?”

“He’s already walking around like he’s fully recovered. At this rate, he’ll get poisoned again.”

From the way So Jeongrak quickly scanned him, Geom Mugeuk could tell. He was checking whether Geom Mugeuk had been detoxified.

The Poison King and So Jeongrak—both were masters who could discern one’s condition with just a glance.

“What brings you here?”

“You treated my brother. How could I just leave like that? So, I brought a gift.”

Geom Mugeuk took out a small pouch from his robes and offered it.

“It’s a token of my gratitude. Please accept it.”

So Jeongrak glanced at the pouch Geom Mugeuk held out.

“No need.”

“It’s a cheap trinket I picked up at the market, but it carries my sincerity.”

“My principle is to accept nothing from patients.”

“You’re making it hard for me to keep my hands from trembling in shame.”

Just then, a physician beside him said to Geom Mugeuk,

“The physician is busy. It might be best to come back another time.”

“Then at least take a look at what the gift is.”

Without giving them a chance to stop him, Geom Mugeuk opened the pouch.

At that moment—

Puff.

A white smoke burst out of the pouch.

The smoke spread in all directions in an instant.

What happened next was astonishing.

Not only the physicians, but also the patients and their guardians all collapsed silently.

It all happened in a flash—leaving only Geom Mugeuk and So Jeongrak standing in the room.

“What is the meaning of this?”

So Jeongrak checked on a physician who had collapsed beside him. Everyone was merely asleep.

Waving the smoke away with his hand, Geom Mugeuk spoke with admiration.

“This stuff works like a charm. No wonder people get hooked on poison arts.”

He looked at So Jeongrak.

“You, and the Hermit of Heaven and Earth—always using innocent people as shields. I had no other choice.”

“Shields?”

“You’ve lived a lie your entire life. Aren’t you tired of it? At least when it’s just the two of us, return to your true self.”

But So Jeongrak still wore the look of a shocked physician reacting to the situation. He even checked on the sleeping patients.

“Every time I meet you, I really do feel like the villain.”

Geom Mugeuk picked up a piece of paper that the physician assisting him had dropped.

“A patient chart, is it.”

He held it up to the window, angling it in the air to see if any other writing appeared.

“If I shine it like this, it should reveal some poison mnemonic verse, or a secret contact code from your organization—something like that.”

Of course, there was no such thing written on it.

“How do you endure such a dull, mundane life during the day?”

It wasn’t a baseless accusation.

While he had been with the Poison King in the Heavenly Poison Forest, he had come to realize something. Training in poison arts was a completely different world from learning ordinary martial arts.

Unless one completely immersed themselves in that world, survival was impossible.

Because the poison would have already killed them.

Only those who thought of nothing but poison could master poison arts.

This So Jeongrak must have been no different. He made it this far with poison arts learned in his youth? And now, without bloody training, he neutralized the deadly poisons administered by the Poison King?

Impossible. He must have continued to train in poison arts without anyone knowing. By day, he saved lives; by night, he took them.

So Jeongrak turned toward the door.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I’ll call someone. If you intend to harm me, then go ahead.”

He was trying, first and foremost, to remove himself from this unexpected situation.

When an unexpected situation occurs, get away from it—first and foremost!

Even if you think you can handle it, get away. That feeling that you might be able to do something—that's the trap laid by the unexpected moment. A delusion.

So Jeongrak was someone who had lived his life strictly by this principle.

And now, a single word from behind threatened to make him break that principle.

“Three-Day Breath.”

At that moment, So Jeongrak flinched and froze mid-step.

“Our Poison King recognized it at a glance.”

So Jeongrak turned back toward Geom Mugeuk.

The fact that he could tolerate everything else but not remarks about the Poison King revealed just how strongly he desired to surpass the Poison King.

“I may not have a knack for recognizing poisons, but I do have a knack for recognizing other things.”

Geom Mugeuk calmly stared at So Jeongrak and added,

“It’s the ability to recognize villains.”

The kind expression on So Jeongrak’s face stiffened slightly.

“Haven’t you been acting for decades now? Isn’t it time to stop?”

After a brief pause, So Jeongrak responded.

“I’ve never acted. Saving lives—that is my life.”

Geom Mugeuk didn’t deny those words.

“You’re right. You’ve lived as a good physician for a long time.”

Because he truly had.

“But even so, I don’t think I can respect that life.”

Geom Mugeuk sat down at the end of a patient's bed.

“If the Grand Demon War breaks out because of people like you, then hundreds of times more lives will be lost than the ones you've saved your whole life.”

He could see it—there wasn’t the slightest trace of guilt on So Jeongrak’s face.

Geom Mugeuk looked at the patient on the bed and asked,

“Are you perhaps trying to atone in advance by saving these people?”

So Jeongrak slowly walked over and sat at the edge of the bed opposite him.

Looking at the patient on the bed where he now sat, he suddenly said,

“Bullshit.”

A dark sneer crept across So Jeongrak’s lips.

“To think the word ‘atonement’ would come out of the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult. Do you people even know what atonement is?”

Geom Mugeuk laughed broadly.

“See how nice this is? Masks off, and we can finally speak frankly.”

So Jeongrak’s eyes had changed entirely. Gone was the kind-looking man—his gaze alone made him seem like a completely different person.

“How long have you waited for this moment?”

So Jeongrak tilted his head back, looked up at the ceiling, and exhaled deeply.

The sticky internal energy that flowed from his body instantly took control of the space. It was the kind of energy that weighed down the body like one sinking into a swamp.

And Geom Mugeuk saw it—about twenty vine-like strands of energy extended from So Jeongrak's body, connecting to the bodies of those sleeping around them.

“If I die, they die with me.”

He might’ve considered this a favorable situation, but his nature was utterly meticulous.

Geom Mugeuk sighed and said,

“Even asleep, a shield is still a shield.”

It was a continuation of what he had said earlier—that So Jeongrak used people as shields too much.

“I’ve long heard that the Young Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult pretends to be a righteous hero.”

So Jeongrak seemed absolutely convinced that nothing could be done as long as he had hostages.

And yet, the emotion in his eyes as he looked at Geom Mugeuk was intense distrust.

“No matter what you say, you can't hide your blood.”

He was certain this was all a filthy ploy to dominate the martial world. After all, demonic practitioners were inherently like that.

“Be honest. It doesn’t matter to you if they die, right?”

Geom Mugeuk admitted it without hesitation. There was no need to pretend he was desperate to save them in this situation.

“So you do see through me. As expected. Didn't I say it? A villain recognizes another villain.”

He looked down at his own hand and said,

“That’s right. Even now, the blood inside me is boiling. I’m being endlessly tempted by the desire to just cut you down. To slice up this cunning bastard right here and now. Let the so-called righteous factions misunderstand! Let them! I’ll deal with the aftermath later!”

Geom Mugeuk raised his head and looked at So Jeongrak. So Jeongrak didn’t bother hiding his emotions. The displeasure of being cursed at was clearly reflected in his cold eyes.

As if to throw more fuel on that fire, Geom Mugeuk grinned irritatingly and said,

“I go through great lengths pretending to be a good person, just to cover up who I really am. Come to think of it, we have a lot in common.”

So Jeongrak nodded.

“I suppose I have to agree. I’m also forcing myself not to kill you right now.”

“Why are you holding back?”

So Jeongrak didn’t answer, but Geom Mugeuk already knew the reason.

“Because I need to be alive for your little scheme to reach completion?”

A twitch formed at the corner of So Jeongrak’s eye.

“What exactly is my role? The moment you administered poison to me, you revealed your true identity.”

It also meant the time had come. It was a choice made with the expectation that Geom Mugeuk would come for him.

“Curious about your role? It's a very important one.”

With a confident smile, Geom Mugeuk spoke calmly.

“You think you’ve lived the perfect life of a physician, don’t you? Treating the poor for free, saving countless martial artists, earning the respect of everyone. So now you believe we can’t touch you.”

He rose from the bedside and slowly walked toward So Jeongrak.

“But are you ‘really’ flawless?”

So Jeongrak simply listened to what Geom Mugeuk was saying.

“You must’ve been perfect in the beginning. But over all those long years, not a single mistake? Not one moment of carelessness? You lived in hiding for that long without slipping up?”

A subtle tremble appeared at the edge of So Jeongrak’s eye.

“I’m convinced there’s a secret laboratory somewhere beneath this clinic. That’s where you researched and tested poisons. No matter how well you hid the entrance, a specialist could uncover it.”

The corner of So Jeongrak’s mouth lifted slightly.

“If you had proof that it was my space, then you could pin the blame on me.”

Geom Mugeuk widened his eyes in surprise.

“Oh? So there really is a secret place underground? I was just guessing.”

Seeing that mocking expression, So Jeongrak bit his lip slightly.

Then Geom Mugeuk struck another nerve.

“Who did you experiment on, I wonder? I never understood why you treated your patients with such relentless dedication. If you weren’t inherently kind, you couldn’t live so selflessly. But someone that inherently kind wouldn’t train in poison arts, would they?”

A thought had occurred to him.

“What if—what if you were looking for someone with a particular constitution that you needed?”

Geom Mugeuk’s gaze turned razor-sharp.

“I bet some of your patients—those with special constitutions—have gone missing, haven’t they?”

So Jeongrak neither confirmed nor denied it, but his pupils were trembling.

“A secret chamber underground where poisons were tested… and now it turns out some of the patients went missing. Isn’t that enough reason to suspect you? At this point, wouldn’t it be justified to kill you?”

But So Jeongrak remained confident.

“Do you have any idea how many people I’ve saved until now?”

“That doesn’t matter. There are far more people you didn’t save.”

“!”

“Your reputation and legacy will be written by them.”

Geom Mugeuk stared coldly at So Jeongrak.

“In other words, killing you wouldn’t cause much trouble.”

He had issued a powerful threat, and he was curious to see how So Jeongrak would respond. Killing him wouldn’t be difficult. After all, against poison users, he was the ultimate natural enemy.

But So Jeongrak, unaware of that fact, maintained his composure.

“I already poisoned you the moment we met earlier. The moment you use your internal energy, your qi and blood will expand and burst.”

Of course, Geom Mugeuk knew. He had burned away the poison the instant it entered his body.

Feigning surprise and panic, Geom Mugeuk made a show of it.

While So Jeongrak believed the upper hand was his, Geom Mugeuk casually asked,

“Fine. Since it’s come to this, let me ask you one thing. Who are you planning to assassinate using the beasts of the Forbidden Demon Order?”

He was testing the waters.

“Is it Lady Jin?”

As he asked, he carefully watched every shift in So Jeongrak’s expression.

“Leader Jin?”

So Jeongrak only responded with a subtle expression, nothing concrete.

Geom Mugeuk finally named the last person.

“It must be the Hermit of Heaven and Earth.”

At last, So Jeongrak opened his mouth. It was the moment Geom Mugeuk had been waiting for—finally, new information.

“Because of you, the target has changed.”

“Because of me?”

Well, that made sense. With himself and the Demon Supreme arriving in Wuhan, a lot of variables must have shifted.

He wondered who the new target was.

“We considered various possibilities. Analyzed and re-analyzed all the information we’d collected.”

With a strange smile, So Jeongrak continued.

“And an astonishing result came out. If the new target were to die, the probability of war breaking out was higher than anyone else’s.”

It was at that very moment—when an ominous feeling crept over him—

Creaaak.

The door opened, and someone entered.

He was an old martial master with white hair, but his body radiated a blazing crimson demonic energy. The instant one saw him, an overwhelming aura froze the body in place.

A supreme martial artist nearing the age of one hundred. Shockingly, he was none other than Demon Flame Lord, who had broken through the Forbidden Demon Order and arrived in Wuhan.

From the opposite door, another martial master revealed himself.

An elderly man appeared—his flesh shriveled and withered, his figure resembling that of a skeleton. It looked as if a single tap would cause his body to crumble.

Yet, his eyes were bottomless. Within them rested a depth forged through one hundred and fifty years—an abyss carrying the weight of death itself.

He was none other than White-Bone Soul Demon.

Astonishingly, both of them had appeared together in the same place.

Just by looking at them, Geom Mugeuk immediately knew who they were.

So Jeongrak finished the sentence he had been saying earlier.

“There was even a conclusion that it didn’t matter who killed him. If he dies, war will break out without fail.”

The light faded from Geom Mugeuk’s eyes. Now, he could be sure who the new target was.

“…It was me.”

So Jeongrak slowly nodded.

“That’s right. The conclusion was that if you die, the Cult Leader of the Demonic Cult would never stand idly by.”